Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original German WWII Bandenkampfabzeichen, or Anti-Partisan Warfare Badge, recovered from the ground long after the war and now in relic condition. It is a hollow back zinc alloy example with heavy oxidation from prolonged burial and retains its original tapered steel pin, though the pin is detached from the badge. Because the original finish has been lost, the award grade can no longer be determined with confidence.

The Bandenkampfabzeichen was instituted on January 30, 1944 and was awarded to personnel of several German military and police organizations involved in rear area security and anti-partisan operations. These activities were described by the regime as Bandenbekämpfung, or “bandit fighting.”

In practice, the term “bandit” was used broadly by German security organizations for armed partisans as well as Jews, communists, Soviet officials, Red Army stragglers, and other people classified as security threats. Anti-partisan operations, particularly in Eastern Europe, were frequently accompanied by mass shootings, destruction of villages and crops, seizure of livestock, forced labor deportations, and other violence against civilian populations.

This badge is of hollow back construction and is made from zinc alloy. The surface is now heavily oxidized from having remained underground for a prolonged period, giving it the deeply weathered appearance expected of a true ground recovered relic. Any original bronze, silver, or gold colored wash has been completely lost through burial and corrosion. For that reason, the original grade of this badge cannot now be established from the surviving finish.

The original tapered steel pin is still present but is no longer attached to the badge. At some point an attempt was made to glue the pin back into place, but the adhesive subsequently failed. Traces of this previous repair attempt remain part of the relic condition.

Despite the extensive oxidation and detached pin, the surviving form remains identifiable as a Bandenkampfabzeichen. Its ground recovered condition gives the piece a very different character from preserved examples, while also requiring careful handling to avoid additional loss from the oxidized zinc surface.

With its hollow back zinc construction, surviving detached tapered steel pin, heavy burial oxidation, and unmistakable relic condition, this is a particularly interesting ground recovered example of the German WWII Bandenkampfabzeichen. The complete loss of original finish, inability to determine the original award grade, detached pin, and failed earlier glue repair are all fully disclosed. It would display especially well in a German WWII battlefield relic, anti-partisan warfare, ground recovered award, or advanced military decorations collection.

Badge Design:
All versions of the badge feature a skull and crossed bones at the base, with a laurel wreath of oak leaves around the sides and a sword in the center. The sword's handle has the "sun-wheel" swas, with the blade plunged into the "Hydra", whose five heads represent the "partisans". The second version of the badge had larger oak leaves in the wreath and a larger "sun-wheel" swas. Historian Philip W. Blood notes the similarities between the symbol of the occultist Thule Society, with a sword and a swas, and the design of the badge. He suggests that Himmler and Erich von dem Bach-Zalewski "had sealed [...] Germanic mythology into a medal for Lebensraum".

The badge existed in three grades:

Bronze, for 20 combat days against "bandits"
Silver, for 50 combat days against "bandits"
Gold, for 150 combat days against "bandits"

Criteria were slightly different for the Luftwaffe, being based on 30, 75, and 150 operational flights/sorties flown in support of "bandit-fighting" operations